


Mood Hair

by StephanieStephanie



Series: Anakin's Weird Biology [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fix-It, Gen, Hair, Mind Control, Mind Manipulation, Mood hair
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-11
Updated: 2020-10-11
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:21:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26936551
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StephanieStephanie/pseuds/StephanieStephanie
Summary: Sheev Palpatine has manipulated Anakin's for years, slowly corrupting him. His mind became almost completely under his control, the manipulations causing him to become darker, more melancholic and distrustful. Darth Sidious was clever, he did his manipulations with care. He made sure Anakin didn't show any physical side effects, but still, there were small changes.Obi-Wan saw how his Padawan folded in on himself and became more introverted. It seemed to just be teenage angst and growing up. Rex noticed how his General's hair would seem almost a goldish-green.Eventually, it became too noticeable and Anakin is first sent to the medbay then to the Temple, where it comes out that someone is infecting him with the Dark Side. For obvious reasons, Anakin ends up confined to the GAR barracks, and it all comes out. Darth Sidious is revealed for what he is to the whole galaxy. All because the Chosen One has mood hair.
Relationships: Anakin Skywalker & Clone Troopers, Anakin Skywalker & Yoda, CT-27-5555 | Fives | ARC-5555 & Anakin Skywalker, CT-6116 | Kix & Anakin Skywalker, CT-7567 | Rex & Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker, Padmé Amidala & Anakin Skywalker, Sheev Palpatine & Anakin Skywalker
Series: Anakin's Weird Biology [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1965493
Comments: 22
Kudos: 263
Collections: New SW Canon Server Works





	Mood Hair

**Author's Note:**

> To CF24086, who helped so much writing this that at least half of the orginal text came from them. Even if you don't have an AO3 account yet, you deserve to be called co-creator of this fic.
> 
> Special thanks to The Lava Ground, Water Rose, Ilayda (Artikka) and Jane0Doe from the same Discord server who helped us brainstorm this.

Anakin’s hair is always in metallic colors, in various shades of gold, copper and bronze, with maybe a bit of brown depending on the light. He tried hair dye before being freed, but it never worked.

It changes depending on his feelings. White gold for fear, sunlight gold when he is truly happy. Black gold while in great pain, whenever he gets tortured or is in great emotional distress. Only Padmé and Obi-Wan know about pink gold being a possibility, the later because of some undercover works and particular missions where they had to pass as a couple. 

When his mother Shmi died, Padmé thought he had aged almost 30 years with his silver hair. Anakin told her it was because he was grieving, because of his profound sadness. It still crowns his head when he shows up to Geonosis, all the Jedi present see it. Half of it turns black gold when he loses his arm. He got therapy as a result.

Bronze varies with the situations he is in. It is present when really focusing or doing something tiring, the shade darker, browner when danger is about. It stays mostly dark bronze after his knighting. Rex always worries when self-sacrifice copper appears on General Skywalker's head.

Kix knows to never let him go right away when he sees oxidized copper, it means sickness. All the 501st and 212th secretly like the fact that Anakin's hair does this, he can't lie to them, so they will know if anything is wrong with him. He grew his hair longer for them and to be able to easily check on it himself.

The "Hero with no Fear" facade only holds up through a mix of widespread public ignorance, war footage mostly showing a mix of black gold and dark bronze, all easily attributed to smoke and bad light, people thinking he dyed his hair, Jedi Stuff dismissal and indeterminate near human DNA. 

The troopers only seriously try to find out what he is during the Rako Hardeen incident where his hair just turned silver when Obi-Wan ‘died’ and only had slight accents of other colors for as long as the deception lasted. It is the most drastic change ever witnessed by them and they are slightly afraid of any answer he might give them, so they investigate on their own. They beg the Temple Healers for a copy of his full medical file. Eventually they steal it, and get more than they bargained for. They now see his hate of slavers in a whole new light. Especially when thinking of his solely black gold hair on Zygerria and during the mission to deliver a young hutt back to Tatooine. The reason his hair didn’t change back then wasn’t artificial in the end, his mood was just that constant the whole time. That’s why General Kenobi looked so worried when his former Padawan made a confused face at being asked when he would wash off the dye, there wasn’t any. 

During all of this, he kept visiting the Chancellor, with a bit more of oxidized green showing up and disappearing slower each time. It is attributed to a developing, but benign allergy to a beloved freshener whose perfume reminds the powerful man of Naboo, so the Council originally dismisses it. It only affects the boy's hair after all and he is growing it out, the older parts must be more sensitives. Palpatine is careful, so the build up is slow and subtle.

It is his men who first notice that the sickness his hair made visible isn’t fading anymore, that it can’t be the result of a chemical or from Dooku electrocutions, they haven’t met the Separatist leader in months at this point. In the medical bay, Kix is at loss about what might be happening, the scans are useless, the vitals are fine, no viruses, infections or poison. This is strange, because nothing should be wrong, but Anakin’s hair never lies either. They bring him over to Vokara Che to see if it is a Force Thing.

While a worried, still alive Fives worriedly watches over his General, the Head Healer brings in Master Yoda, hoping he can help. What he finds nearly gives him a heart attack. It's like someone wrapped young Skywalker’s mind in shadows,so much of the Light is gone or distorted, and he can't destroy it. It is there, a terrible presence, slowly destroying the boy from the inside. They confine Anakin to the Temple. Hopefully its Light can push back the Dark. It doesn't. They say a child weaned on poison finds pain a comfort, this is now the case for the Chosen One. His body is rebelling from the Light, so alien and pure it makes him physically sick.

After he hears of Skywalker's illness, Palpatine asks to see him. He comes to visit, and somehow, Anakin improves. For whatever reason, Palpatine's presence seems to help the boy. He is allowed to come back more often. This continues for weeks, Anakin steadily improving, but then Yoda checks his three times grandpadawan mind. Blackness, only shadows and night reign. It clicks. 

Anakin was sickened by the Light. Someone came, and he seemed to have miraculously recovered. The Dark, a comfort to the poor boy. The Council has to confront the Sith Lord, but how much influence does Palpatine have in them? They need more time. Anakin is allowed to go live at the GAR'S headquarters, being confined to the Temple clearly isn't helping anyone. The Council has much planning to do. 

Obi-Wan finds out. That man, that man has been corrupting his Padawan for years, and he never knew! He never noticed how his brother's hair looked in the light, or the way he had become darker, sadder, more distant. Obi-Wan had let this happen, but no more. No more black gold and oxidized green peppered with silver.

When the 501st sees their leader, they immediately realise something is amiss. They haven't seen him for weeks, and he comes back looking paler than a shiny's armour. Anakin can’t tell them what it is, all he knows is that something is very, very wrong and the Council won't tell him anything. He also starts getting visions around this time, but less like his visions, more like someone else's. So many Jedi dieing, and their trooper's minds under a deep fog, not unlike his own. And joy, a maniacal, cold joy that suggests so much pain. 

He goes to the Council. They investigate carefully, anything Skywalker says right now should be taken with caution, he is almost being controlled by a Sith Lord. But investigate they do, and the chips are found out. The chips removal immediately starts, and it is top secret. A strike team assembles, and they have to reveal who Palpatine really is to Anakin. 

The unique connection to Palpatine from his manipulations of him makes Anakin able to see into Darth Sidious's mind as well, not much considering the fact that the Chancellor would know otherwise, but now they have a rough idea of what Palpatine is planning. However, the effects are detrimental on Anakin, so much darkness invading his mind not helping his health one bit. His hair is completely green at this point, and even being in a Jedi's presence is sickening. 

Anakin is kept confined at the GAR barracks now, the presence of his men supposed to help the effects of the dark side poisoning, as the Temple is only slowly killing him, but now they have to find a balance to make sure he doesn't succumb to the darkness in his mind.

When Sheev Palpatine dies, the most affected victim of his Force enforced Dark Side manipulations promptly collapses, a full head of oxidized green going black gold at once. Greyish white shallow skin took a golden tan again and eyes that constantly flickered gold from his constant delving into Palpatine's mind became a stable blue again. The volatile temper that often switched through personalities from his corrupted brain disappeared as well. It's like lancing a boil or an infected wound. The poison seeps out in a quick but painful moment and the healing can begin. 

The Council never thought to simply rip it away, too fearful of what it might tear off as it went. They weren’t wrong per see, the Dark almost became a part of him, for months it felt as if it already was, ever growing, ever strengthening its hold, and it is like a ‘light’ died in Anakin's, a part of him was just gone. 

Even taking him immediately to the Temple, where he is put in a healing trance, doesn’t stop the spread of the initial shock to his system. His mind is in pieces. Altered memories become the truth, so much darkness is gone, but, at what cost? 

Nonetheless, Anakin is a Child of the Desert. He knows that a harsh truth is better than a comforting lie. Even if nothing makes sense anymore, his memories in tatters, the man who was like a father to him wanting Anakin to be his slave, and he just feels so off.The light comes rushing back to him, and it is both beautiful and painful. It feels different from the dark, more loving, more compassionate, but he hasn't really felt the light in so long it hurt. It hurt like a thousand suns and it burned just as much.

Anakin was raised in poison, and now he's finally getting the antidote.There will always be a gnawing ache inside him, as there is within any addict that's lost their fix. But the Jedi and his family are there, and will always be there with him to ensure that he doesn't stumble.


End file.
